Gone to Ground (29 page)

36

The clouds parted, allowing the light of the three-quarter moon to splash down on the small side canyon, illuminating parts of the narrow cattle trail wh
ere it wound through brush and juniper down toward the main course of Adobe Canyon. The soft rattle of stones and thud of boots announced the advancement of Rickards’ team.

A sudden yelp from midway through the procession brought the entire group to a halt, scrambling for their weapons in the half light. There was a pause as everyone waited, looking suspiciously around for the unseen assailant.

Nothing moved. The only sounds were distant thunder, and some not so distant, but very proficient, whispered cursing.

“Who’s that?” Rickards barked in a strangled half whisper.

“Donner, sir,” came the disembodied voice approximately fifteen feet behind Rickards.

“Well, what the hell happened, Donner.”

“I bumped into a goddamned cholla cactus, sir. My damned jeans are nailed to my ass.” A snort of laughter from elsewhere in the line was quickly choked off.

“Get ‘em un-nailed, then, and get quiet. I won’t lose the element of surprise because of some damned cactus.”

They’d finally been able to make the break from Wikieup yesterday morning, using the four-wheel drive Jeeps and ATVs to traverse the muddy roads, leaving the electronics van and two men in Wikieup. Several times the field team was held up for hours while freeing a stuck vehicle, but in spite of the delays, they’d made their final approach to the canyon earlier that afternoon.

Rickards had decided that they should leave the vehicles at least two miles away from the canyon’s rim, fearing that the engine noise would alert O’Reilly that they were coming. It was imperative that they take the fugitives by surprise.

The initial pass of the seekers had identified a second route out of the canyon. If the fugitives were using horses, as Rickards was sure they were, it would be possible for O’Reilly to take the children and  make a run for it, establishing a good head start before Rickards could get vehicles to the far side of the canyon, either by coming down from I-40 or over from Highway 89. Of course, when the new seekers arrived, they should be able to find O’Reilly, but things would still be much easier if he was surprised in his hideout.

Scouts discovered this small trail leading down into the canyon, and it was decided that the team would wait for the cover of night, follow the trail to the canyon bottom, and establish themselves at either end of the valley while the residents were sleeping. Then, as the sun came up Rickards’ team would make their attack, capturing the fugitives as they were rising.

The moon was sinking toward the rim of the canyon and the sky was silvery-dark, speckled with bright stars, when the band of Enforcers reached the point in the canyon where it opened up into the meadow they’d seen on the video feed sent from the seeker. Rickards held up a hand, signaling the men to halt while he inspected the valley. The barn and windmill glowed softly in the lunar light. In the shadow of the cliff wall, where the seeker’s image had shown varying degrees of darkness, a house of a sort was now evident.

Rickards watched the house and barn for a few minutes, listening carefully for any noises from the buildings that might indicate where O’Reilly was. A low squeak caught his attention and he tried to pin point the source.

There it was. The windmill was turning slowly in a light breeze. Nothing more.

The house was silent, the windows dark. O’Reilly and the children must still be asleep. Looking at the peaceful scene, Rickards felt an unexpected twinge of remorse.

The setting was idyllic. Maybe not exactly Norman Rockwell, or Wyeth, but it definitely carried the same sense of peace. Compared to the chaos of the APZ, this small, secluded valley seemed like paradise.

Still duty demanded, and Rickards had always followed his orders.

For a moment longer Rickards watched the meadow aware of a slowly growing disquiet and ignoring the shuffling and fidgeting of the men behind him until a sudden touch on his shoulder jerked him back to reality.

He shook himself, as though waking from a dream and turned back toward the owner of the hand. It was Harlan, looking past Rickards toward the barn and the pasture beyond.

“Any sign of the fugitives, sir?”

“No. No sign of movement. They must be still asleep.” Rickards glanced back at the peaceful scene that drew him in.

Giving himself a second mental shake, Rickards turned again to the group of officers following him.

“Okay, lets put the plan into action. Harlan, you take Stevens and Martinez and go to the far end of the meadow. Station yourselves so that you have eyes on the exit, but are also close enough to get back here pronto should need arise. I don’t think there’ll be a fire fight, not with the kids there, but you never know.

“Larson, you watch this end of the canyon. Take cover in those rocks. If O’Reilly makes it through us and heads this way, take him out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Johnson, you, Gomez, Peters, Donner and I will move to the barn area, and from there closer to the house where we can take O’Reilly and the children as they exit.”

Before leaving the vehicles, the team had discussed at length the best strategy for capturing the fugitives. Rickards felt it would be wiser to attempt to apprehend O’Reilly outside the house, presuming that the dark area the seeker had shown was actually a residence of some type. The consensus of the team was that O’Reilly would be less likely to have ready access to weapons outside of the building. It was to be assumed that he hadn’t come to the valley unprepared, but hopefully he would be feeling safe enough in his little hidyhole that he wouldn’t be carrying a gun with him when he came out to do the morning chores. If he did have a weapon on his person, at least he wouldn’t have easy access to any others.

The plan was to wait for him, and hopefully the children, to leave the house. Two people stationed at the side of the building would quickly move to block his retreat back inside. The others would come at him from the front. If he could be taken alive, that was preferred. Rickards wanted to know exactly what it was about the information O’Reilly had discovered that had driven him out of the APZ. However, if taking him alive was impossible, then elimination was preferable to escape.

The horizon to the east above the canyon rim was beginning to pearl as the men moved into position, Gomez and Donner crouched down at either side of the door, while Rickards, Peters and Johnson secreted themselves among the outbuildings.

All was silent except for the slight creak of the windmill as it continued to turn in the gentle breeze.

It was shortly after 4:45, the sky overhead was lightening and Rickards was beginning to wonder how long O’Reilly and the children were planning on sleeping - didn’t farmers get up early to do chores and things like that? - when suddenly all hell broke lose.

Donner was crouched to the right of the door, when without warning, a raucous screech erupted from the large deep-set window over his head. He startled, fell backward, and in doing so, released a burst of gunfire. Gomez, on the opposite side of the doorway was apparently struck, because he let out a yell that could be heard in Kingman, and fell backward gripping his leg in both hands and dropping his gun causing it to discharge.

Rickards yelled to Johnson and Peters to move and all three raced toward the house, rifles aimed at the front wall, where yet another belligerent blast of noise caused Donner to scramble away from the wall where he’d been crouching.

Rickards skidded to a stop and panned his weapon, pointing it at the dark opening in the structure’s wall. With another harsh crow, a ball of feathers erupted out of the open window, causing Rickards to reflexively pull the trigger, the bullet shattering the window. The rooster, barely identifiable in the predawn darkness, hit the ground ten feet out from the house, ruffled its feathers, scratched the ground several times, then strutted off toward the barn to the amazement of the five men.

What the hell...
thought Rickards. Suddenly he became aware of a chatter of voices in his ear.

“What’s going on...?”

“Captain, what’s happening, report...?”

“...hear shooting, do you need help?”

Pulling himself back together, Rickards touched the send button on the radio at his ear. “It’s all right. We were surprised by... by an animal attack.” Rickards couldn’t bring himself to admit that they were thrown off guard by a chicken. The story was bound to come out, and be laughed about for years to come, but at this point he felt he needed more distance before he could see the humor in the situation.

“All is secure here but we have one man injured,” Rickards glanced at Gomez, where he sat, rolling up a pant leg so that Johnson could see where the bullet had creased the flesh. “No sign of the fugitives.”

No sign at all.

Rickards studied the house intently.
Why isn’t there a sign? We’ve made enough noise to wake the people living in Laughlin.

Pulling his rifle back up to his shoulder, Rickards approached the front door. He signaled Johnson, Peters and Donner to back him up. Slowly he reached out his left hand to take the knob, keeping his gun at the ready.

With a sudden thrust, he pushed the door inward, only to realize that, in spite of the growing light outside, inside the house it was still dark as midnight. He tensed, waiting for an attack from the gloom. When it didn’t materialize, he fumbled at his belt for his flashlight.

Slowly he panned the light around the inside of the room. It wasn’t large. On one side was a small kitchen area. On the other side, a table and chairs, a wood stove. A small couch was under the window. Along the back wall were four closed doors.

No sign of the quarry.

No place to hide, except behind those doors.

Rickards motioned to his men to follow closely. Cautiously he approached the door on the left. He quickly threw it open, standing back to the side in case someone opened fire.

Again, nothing.

Stepping inside the room, Rickards again panned his flashlight. It was a small room, with no windows or other possible exits.. The roof was the stone of the cliff, apparently eroded when the river was higher. The floor was a conglomeration of stone and concrete, though Rickards noticed a few horse shoes and pieces of various types of pottery in among the rocks. The only furniture was an old bed with a bare mattress, a scarred chest of drawers and a battered foot locker. Nothing in the room boasted of anyone staying there recently.

Turning, Rickards nodded to the other three men at the doorway, and headed for the second door. The gnawing uneasiness which had begun in his gut when there was no reaction to the foul-up outside began to grow into a more acute discomfort.

Approaching the second door, Rickards again signaled his men to wait. He threw that door open as well, again stepping back out of the line of fire.

A second failure.

Entering the room, Rickards saw a space similar to the first, except that the bed in this case was a set of double bunks. Several crates were stacked along one wall. Once again there was no sign of immediate occupancy.

Likewise, the next room contained nothing but two sets of double bunks, and a few chests.

Rickards turned for the last room.

They have to be here,
Rickards thought. The tension was becoming unbearable.
Relax
, he ordered himself
, relax. If a mouse squeaked under your feet you’d probably shoot a toe off.

“O’Reilly,” Rickards called from the doorway. “O’Reilly, come out unarmed and you and the children won’t be hurt. You have my word on it.”

Rickards paused, listening. No sound from inside the room.

They have to be here. But, why was there no sign of people in the other three rooms? Why would they all be hiding in the one room?
The Gordian knot in Rickards gut was growing to mammoth proportions.
They couldn’t know we were coming.

Taking a deep breath, Rickards reached for the final door and threw it open with a bang.

37

Maggie exploded out of a deep sleep to a cacophonous erup
tion from the front of the house outside and below the cave where she and the others were sleeping; Houdini, the rooster, making his daily announcements, gunfire, a man screaming.

Gunfire. Screaming.

Maggie scrambled upright, desperately looking around the dark cave, trying to see the other inhabitants. A low growl issued from the corner of the cave where Lindy’s bed was located, and a whimper indicated that Lindy herself was awake.

“Maggie,” a low whisper sounded several feet off to her left. “Get over there and make sure Lindy and those dogs keep quiet.”

“Christy...” Tremulous voices, scared.

“O’Reilly, where...” Christina’s voice sounded from across the cave.

“Quiet,” O’Reilly’s sharp command caught everyone’s attention and the panicked voices died down rapidly.

“Maggie, take care of Lindy,” O’Reilly began to rap out orders in a hoarse whisper. “Mark help your mother with the dogs. Christina, go to your brothers. Alysa, help Christina. Everyone keep quiet. Whisper if you must talk. No flashlights. Whoever is there might be able to see the glow.

Maggie crawled over to Lindy, bumping into Mark on the way. Lindy’s whimpering stopped as she cuddled into Maggie’s arms, head tucked firmly under her chin. The sounds had ceased outside, but the dogs continued to growl quietly in spite of Mark’s efforts to quiet them.

Maggie could see the outline of the opening, illuminated by the paler gray of the early pre-dawn sky. Silhouetted against the lighter pearl gray was the shape of O’Reilly as he carefully tried to determine the source of the noise.

After what seemed like ages, O’Reilly turned and slowly made his way back over to where Maggie was waiting.

“I can’t see down to the house, but it appears that there are several men there. One’s on the outside and may have been shot, or injured somehow. I’m guessing the others are in the house. There are probably a couple up near the north end of the valley, and I’m betting that there will be at least one or two more at the south end.”

“Who are they?”

“I think we’ll have to assume that they’re Enforcers,” O’Reilly said. “I suppose it could be a band of ghosts that just came across this place, but they tend to hide out nearer to supply lines. When the sun comes up we’ll be able to get a better idea who they are, and their numbers.”

The light from the opening was gradually increasing as dawn moved toward day and Maggie could vaguely see O’Reilly’s face about a foot from hers. She could feel his breath brushing across the skin of her face. His eyes closed for a moment and he shook his head gently.

“I’m sorry, Maggie, I thought for sure we’d have more warning; hear a seeker or something. I guess one might have passed in the night and they simply thought this was a place to check out. Maybe the barn and windmill made them nervous. I don’t know.” His eyes opened again, glinting faintly in the ever increasing light.

His expression lightened briefly. “Actually, your nemesis may have proven to be our only early warning system..”

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked. She was acutely aware of Mark several feet behind her with the dogs, listening to everything that was said. She could hear soft whispering from the other side of the cave where Christina, Alysa, Nick and Ryan had been sleeping. Apparently Christina and Alysa were comforting the boys, keeping them quiet.

“I think that Houdini must have surprised the men, causing at least one of them to open fire. You may have to rethink your chicken pot pie plans.”

“Did they kill him?” Maggie asked, but before O’Reilly could answer, a crow wafted in through the outside opening, announcing to all that Houdini was still alive and flapping.

“Better luck next time,” O’Reilly said with a chuckle in his voice, patting her shoulder gently.

“It would be a whole lot easier to be grateful to him if I didn’t know the next time I walked into the chicken yard I was going to have my shins beaten black and blue,” Maggie said ruefully. “I would be more than happy to give him his medal of honor posthumously.”

“Yeah, right. Face it. If Houdini had died, you’d be feeling pretty guilty right about now.”

“I’d live,” Maggie grumbled.

O’Reilly leaned in closer, dropping his voice lower. “When the sun comes up, we’ll watch to see what happens. If they are Enforcers, and I’m pretty sure they are, and if they begin an extensive search of the valley, we need to be ready to move.”

The day before O’Reilly had cornered Maggie in the barn with adjustments to his escape plan that, while she didn’t like them, unfortunately made sense, if anything did these days. In the updated plan, they would need to find a large, relatively flat stone, not too heavy, but large enough to cover the entrance to the small cave where they were hiding; about two or three feet by three feet.

Assuming that the Enforcers found the valley and managed to find the entrance to the caves, Maggie was to keep the children and dogs in the hideout. O’Reilly would slide the rock over the opening. Then he would head back toward the mouth of the caves. There was a small side cave about a hundred yards from the entryway. Several rock falls had left piles of debris along the walls where he would hide until the Enforcers passed, heading further inside the mountain.

After they went by, he would emerge and head for the entrance. Once there he intended to make a noise of some type designed to get his pursuers to turn around and chase him. His idea was that he could lead them out of the caves, and up the canyon toward the north where he would hopefully lose them in the brush and rocks. If he was successful, they would think he’d made a run for the north of the state after having sent the children on ahead.

As Maggie pointed out, there were a number of serious drawbacks to O’Reilly’s plan. They needed to find a rock small enough for Maggie to move from inside the passageway leading to the cave, yet large enough to cover the entrance fully. Should O’Reilly be captured or killed while leading the Enforcers on a wild goose chase, it would be up to Maggie to get everyone out once danger had passed.

“Besides,” Maggie stated, “How likely is it that they won’t fully check out every nook and cranny on the way into the caverns? Or post a guard at the entrance? You know damned well that the likelihood of you making it out of the caves is not very high.” She looked O’Reilly in the eye, daring him to refute her analysis.

“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” O’Reilly answered, meeting her stare. “If I’m captured, I will try and convince them that I’ve sent Christina and the other children on ahead on horseback and I stayed behind to delay pursuit. They don’t know that you, Mark or Lindy are here, so they’ll only be looking for the four children. Since Alysa’s family is from the four corners area I’ll try and get them to believe that the children are heading in that direction.”

Maggie bowed her head, eyes closed. The thought of losing O’Reilly tore at her and she wasn’t sure she had the strength. She swayed slightly and suddenly O’Reilly’s arm was there, holding her upright.

Opening her eyes she faced O’Reilly again. Chin tilted upward at a stubborn angle, she demanded, “Why can’t we just all go into the cave, pull the rock over the entrance and stay there until the Enforcers leave the way we originally talked about?”

O’Reilly’s hand dropped away from Maggie as he looked at her with sadness in his eyes. “Face facts, Maggie, it wouldn’t work. Even if we could pull the rock fully over the passageway from the inside, there would be no way to erase the signs of  it being moved. Any halfway thorough search of the caves would find it and we’d all be sitting ducks. Hell, all they’d have to do would be sit outside and wait for us to be forced out from starvation or thirst. This is the best chance we have of getting you and the kids out alive.”

“What about going deeper into the caves?” Maggie offered, unwilling to give up so easily. “You said the network goes on for miles. Pull the rock over the opening, then head further back.”

O’Reilly shook his head slowly. “We can’t afford having the Enforcers spend too much time in the caves. Even with the rock, if they take their time searching, they’re bound to find the opening. A careful eye will see that the signs of our passage end at this one cave. Besides, I wouldn’t have time to erase my footprints if I head deeper into the caves. They’ll follow and there’s a good chance I’ll be trapped in a dead end. I’d rather take my chance in the open. I know this land much better than they do and there are many small canyons and other caves to hide out in outside Adobe Canyon.”

O’Reilly stopped and watched Maggie intently.

“You promised you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself,” Maggie insisted, an angry sob in her voice.

O’Reilly reached out toward her, but she threw his hand away furiously.

“I promised I wouldn’t sacrifice myself
needlessly
.” O’Reilly said. “Believe me, if I thought there was any other way that had as much chance of success, I’d take it.” He reached out and pulled her braid lightly. “I don’t want to leave you either. All things considered, I’m not sure Arizona can survive if I leave you loose on the land.” He attempted a smile, which Maggie didn’t return.

The silence between them stretched into minutes as Maggie mulled over the proposition O’Reilly had just laid in front of her. Finally, taking a deep, shaky breath she said, “Okay, we’ll do it your way. But I swear if you get captured I will hunt you down and...”

“Rub hamburger in my hair, douse it in A-1, stake me in front of a mountain lion’s den and give him an engraved invitation?”

Maggie choked on a laugh and began coughing so violently that O’Reilly began to look concerned. Eventually Maggie caught her breath and looked up at O’Reilly. “I will not only stake you out for the mountain lions, but I will invite the coyotes and vultures to clean up whatever’s left.”

“Fine, we’ve got a deal,” O’Reilly said, nodding, “Now that we have the dining arrangements made, lets go look for a rock.”

Ever since O’Reilly presented his plan to her, Maggie had worked hard to convince herself that none of it would be necessary. Either the Enforcers wouldn’t find the canyon, or, if they did, they wouldn’t find the entrance to the caves.

In spite of her diligent positive thinking, things were rapidly moving in the wrong direction.

Maggie watched as O’Reilly moved back over to the opening in the outer wall of the cave. Outside the daylight was steadily growing. Soon the sun would leap over the horizon and illuminate the hole in the cliff face. The wall was thick, however, and it should be possible for O’Reilly to keep an eye on most of the valley without danger of exposure.

As O’Reilly maintained a watch on the canyon, Maggie began checking on the children, making sure that everyone was all right following their abrupt wakening. They were all looking calm, but frightened. Nick and Ryan were sitting huddled together, with Christina and Alysa nearby. Mark was sitting at the back of the cave, near the passageway, petting the dogs. His eyes followed Maggie around the cave as she got everyone jerky and water for breakfast. Several times as she passed by she placed a hand on his shoulder or head, giving him a reassuring smile, which he tried to return.

The children had been deliberately left in the dark regarding the particulars of the plan to avoid capture by the Enforcers. Maggie and O’Reilly both agreed that it would be better not to burden the younger members of their new family with the knowledge that O’Reilly might be forced to put himself at risk to save everyone else. The kids knew there was a plan, and that it involved hiding in the cave, covering the entrance with a rock, but that was all they knew.

With all the older children settled, Maggie gave Lindy to Mark, whereupon she promptly crawled off and began playing with Gypsy and Jack. Maggie softly approached O’Reilly where he stood watch.

“Have you seen anything yet?” she asked quietly.

“A bit. From what I can tell, there are seven or eight men. Maybe more, I’m not sure.”

“What are they doing? We haven’t heard anything for awhile now”

“It’s hard to tell with the house being right below. I don’t dare lean out in case someone sees me. It appears that the largest group of men is investigating the house. Someone is injured, probably shot when Houdini surprised them. It also looks as though they’ve posted several men at the north end of the canyon,” O’Reilly nodded in the direction of the far end of the valley.

A shot of adrenaline coursed through Maggie’s system. “Have they found the caves?”

“It doesn’t appear so. At least they’ve been pretty quiet from what I can tell. I think they were just sent there so that it would be impossible for us to make a break for it in that direction. I’m guessing there are at least one or two stationed at the south end as well.”

“Do you know who it is yet? Is it that captain you spoke about; Rickards?” Maggie tried to look out the opening as well, careful not to lean too far.

“I can’t say for sure, but I can’t imagine Rickards sending men out here without coming himself.” O’Reilly stared out into the valley. “I’m sure that if they’re Enforcers, then Rickards is leading them.” O’Reilly looked down at Maggie and the next time he spoke, his husky voice was even softer so that it wouldn’t carry to the back of the cave.